Kushner a novice negotiator in Mideast

President Donald Trump sent his 36-year-old son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to the Middle East to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The fact that Kushner has zero political or foreign-policy experience has not prevented him from being Trump’s chief Middle East adviser.

Trump puts his family first and values personal loyalty, even at the expense of experience, knowledge. and know-how.

The fact that Kushner is an Orthodox Jew should not complicate the process, even though Orthodox Jews favor the expansion of settlements in the very lands that the Palestinians want for their own homeland. Lack of experience should not be a reason to resolve long-standing disagreements such as borders, claims to Jerusalem, and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

The United States will put pressure on Israel to restrain its construction of settlements on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians and convince Israel to help improve the struggling Palestinian economy, for instance, by easing restrictions to allow more developments of West Bank lands.

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Also, the United States is expected to pressure Palestinians to stop inciting violence in the official media, speeches, and social media, and stop making welfare payments to families of militants imprisoned or killed while committing attacks on Israelis.

On the day Kushner arrived in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel broke ground on a new West Bank settlement. So much for the prime minister’s special friendship toward Kushner and Trump.

As 30 percent of Americans continue to support President Trump, and as long as they continue to drink Trump’s Kool-Aid, they will continue to believe that a 36-year-old kid with zero political or foreign policy experience is going to suddenly resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict with the wave of a magic wand.